Lucky Air

Lucky Air is an airline based in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in south-west China, and part of the HNA group of airlines. Wikipedia names HNA Aviation as its parent and lists its owners as Hainan Airlines, Shanxi Airlines and Yunnan Shilin Tourism Aviation. Its main base is Kunming Changshui International Airport, and Wikipedia also lists bases at Chengdu Tianfu, Lijiang and Zhengzhou. Members join the HNA group's Fortune Wings Club loyalty programme.

History

The airline was founded in July 2004 as Shilin Airlines, with investment from Hainan Airlines and its affiliate Shanxi Airlines and a smaller stake from Yunnan Shilin Tourism Aviation. It was renamed Lucky Air on 23 December 2005 and began flying on 26 February 2006 with a Kunming–Dali service inside Yunnan. In January 2016 Lucky Air was one of four carriers, with HK Express, Urumqi Air and West Air, that formed the U-FLY Alliance of low-cost airlines. On 10 January 2025 it opened a direct route from Dali to Kuala Lumpur, which Wikipedia describes as the first international route from the prefecture.

Business model

Lucky Air is usually classed as low-cost, but it is not a pure no-frills carrier. Most of its aircraft types have a small business-class cabin, and its fares come in several tiers, including a business class, a "Yuexiang" premium economy and ordinary economy. The airline's baggage rules explain that, to meet different travellers' needs, it has separated baggage rights from the ticket on what it calls "differentiated" routes: on those routes the cheapest economy fares include no checked bag and only a small cabin bag, while on its other routes economy fares still include 20 kg of checked baggage.

Network

Wikipedia states that, as of April 2026, the airline served destinations in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, with the infobox listing 61 destinations in total.

Fleet

Lucky Air flies both Airbus and Boeing aircraft, including wide-bodies. A Wikipedia fleet table dated August 2025 lists 51 aircraft: 20 Boeing 737-800s, nine 737-700s, four 737 MAX 8s, seven Airbus A320s, six A320neos, one A321neo and four A330-300s. The A330s have 24 business-class seats. The table shows no outstanding orders, and no newer official figure was found.